Our family Christmas party (finally!)

 Mariah, Ross and girls got here Saturday night. So, Sunday was church and then home for what we call "Christmas Morning Bags", present opening, chili dinner, White Elephant gift exchange for the adults and the 49er game on the tv.  Pictures and some elaboration as follows:

CHRISTMAS BAGS - 1 for each person, full of things I had come across at clearance sales, etc. all year long - like little toys, matching jackets for the kids, princess lotions, glasses cleaning wipes, socks, etc. 

PRESENT OPENING

The vases are from "Biblio Bloom" and are meant to look like books. Samantha got Anne of Green Gables, Mariah Pride & Prejudice, Nancy Secret Garden, Julia Persuasion and Hillary Peter Pan

Chili dinner & White Elephant party pictured below. It was great. Wish I had gotten a picture of the celebrations when the 49ers won. It was a loud, wonderful day and night.

Christmas Day

We did a small amount of present opening on Christmas Day, waiting for us all to be together on the 28th. It was fun seeing the Dobbins kids get into their stockings and open presents they got or made for each other. It's always a treat to see kids excitement on Christmas morning.

Also in the morning Luke, Reggie, Lester and some of his kids went to the theatre to watch the new Avatar movie. The rest of us went for a walk along the cliffs in a wicked-strong wind to see the winter waves.

In the evening the Pinedas did their dinner with Lester's family and we watched Scrooge at home while eating our turkey dinner. It was a very nice Christmas Day. (Below is a song from Scrooge that the Tabernacle Choir does a beautifully).

Christmas Eve pt. 2

(I realize my blogging is completely out of order right now, but as long as I record what I want to remember, I guess that's ok.)

So more about Christmas Eve - My Costco trip was very successful. I was able to get a great pre-seasoned, cut pork roast for dinner that night, which cooked with ease in the insta-pot. I also got 2 small butterball turkeys at only 99 cents a pound to make for Christmas Day. (We saved our traditional Christmas chili for when everyone was here - especially Ross who always makes it for us.) These meals fed us all for a few days, which left more time for just baking and having fun. 

Hurray for Eli who was very enthused about baking gingersnaps!

The Dobbins arrived in the evening to stay with us for about a week, and Julia and kids came over for a quick visit. Hillary brought a treasure trove of pictures that she's been taking care of since Reggie's Mom died. Turns out there are so many more pictures of Reggie's childhood and family that he had never seen. He sat at the table looking at them, showing them to us and sharing the memories. Hillary said she only brought a small part of what she has, so we will be enjoying looking at them all year long, and hopefully getting them organized, scanned and shared with the rest of his family. 

 We watched Home Alone 2 before the kids went to bed and the adults stayed up way too late. When we realized Santa had come while we were talking, we opened our own stockings without the kids and finally went to bed. It was a great start to an eventful week!

sleepless mornings

 Oh how I wish my brain would let me sleep in on weekends and other days off! But it won't, and rather than fight it I have come to treasure watching the sunrise from my recliner or bed. I love how the light starts to come. I enjoy watching it gradually and softly brighten the room. From my recliner in the living room this light reveals the ocean in the distance. From my bed it reveals the bit of jungle in our backyard.

On that subject, I've been thinking about how much I love our backyard. It is unique. It is small, but  spacious at the same time. The flat, patio part is nice for sitting, playing, etc. The hilly, jungle part is useless, unless you are a child. Then your imagination takes over and it is magical. I remember those days in my own life, my children's lives and now my grandchildren's lives. 

I am looking forward to Spring, when I can do a good backyard cleaning and spend more time out there.  But in the meantime, as I have a goal to embrace the beauty of winter this year, I will be content watching the sunrise through the backyard window on those slow, sleepless mornings. 

So here is a picture - not mine, of course, but one of a beautiful winter sunrise, somewhere in this beautiful world.

small details

Some of the small Christmas details around the house this year have made me so happy. Like:

Last year's Christmas clearance items - some I got at even 90% off! Ribbons and cute sturdy bags, Christmas plates, measuring cups and spatulas.

So many Christmas items/traditions come from the Nordic countries of the world, which gets me concentrating on my ancestors a little bit each year. Things like gingerbread, which you can find in decorations and songs. I can't let the season go by without baking gingersnaps.

Hot white chocolate; cranberries; Panettone bread - this year I have given these treats and others another try and have been pleasantly surprised. Madeline made the best cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving which I took to work and ate with my turkey sandwiches. Luke bought some really really good Panettone bread from a special baker in the city and it was SO good - I usually don't like chocolate and orange together, but those were the flavors and it was just so fresh and yummy!

Children's party favors and activities - Reggie's sister hosted a family party and his niece, Jordan, set up a whole Santa's party in the garage for the kids. The tables were full of activities to do, things to make, and accessories to wear. 

These are just a minuscule example of how Christmas is so much more than a day, but a season. I am so grateful for that.

Goodbye Claude

We wanted to go to the CA Academy of Sciences one last time, before our annual pass runs out - especially to pay our respects to the albino alligator that I've blogged about before. He has lived there for over 30 years, but just passed away a few weeks ago. Our family really enjoyed his story and seeing him a lot this year. 

So we went in shifts, just before and after Christmas. I took a last few pictures, not so much of the family but of the place. It's been good to us in 2025.